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The article features Japanese-born Australian ceramic artist Hiroe Swen. Born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1934 into a family with a textile tradition, Swen was encouraged to have a professional career and trained to become a textile designer. It was during the time that she fell ill with spinal meningitis that she made the decision to change the course of her life and take up ceramics. It states that the artist's use of coloured glazes to enhance the minimal but dynamic sculptural forms has been one of the most recognisable characteristics of Swen's work. She cites the importance of her private life and feelings to her art.